


Bracelets, beanies and pining

by shipsandglitter



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: A lot of pining from Andi, Ambi - Freeform, Bracelets, Clothes Sharing, Coming Out, Cuddling, Cyrus and Buffy are done with these two, Dorks in Love, Everyone is shipping them at the end, F/F, First Kisses, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Movie Night, Mutual Pining, Oblivious!Andi and slightly less Oblivious!Amber, SO MUCH FLUFF, TJ is a protective brother, These girls deserve to be happy oKAY, Very minor internalised homophobia, but also very supportive, so is everyone else tbh, supportive friends, very slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-27 03:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16694161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipsandglitter/pseuds/shipsandglitter
Summary: "As she got closer, the smell of her perfume and the feeling of her arm against Andi’s became more and more dizzying. She desperately wanted to wrap an arm around Amber, or pull her closer or - god forbid - just kiss her."~Or the one where TJ notices Andi pining after his sister and (gently) confronts her about it. Andi ends up discovering that a lot can change in a week.





	Bracelets, beanies and pining

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys- here's that Ambi fic I was talking about! I imagine this happening a few months after TJ and Cyrus get together in my other fic, so if you haven't read that one you totally should!

Andi watched in a daze as Amber walked past their table again, shooting them a smile and tossing her hair over her shoulder. She really did try, but Andi couldn’t pull her eyes away from the blonde-haired girl as she walked away. Of course - everyone knew that Amber was gorgeous, but lately, Andi had been wondering if some of the things she was feeling could be put down to normal, friendly admiration. 

_Surely she shouldn’t be thinking about what it would feel like to kiss another girl, let alone Amber._

“Hello? Earth to Andi? We kinda need her down here.”

She blinked and immediately snapped out of it at the sound of Buffy’s voice, scolding herself internally for the blatant staring.

“Right! Sorry - what were we saying?”

Cyrus smiled. “Andi Mack are you blushing?”

“What! No.”

An evil grin was beginning to tug at Buffy’s lips. “Wow, Cyrus. Now that you mention it...”

“Okay! Back to what you were saying!”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow at her, but continued anyway.

“Wellll...we were kind of asking whether or not you wanted to come over for a movie night on Sunday.”

Andi immediately recognised his hesitant tone. “Who else is going?” she asked flatly. 

Buffy grimaced slightly. “Um...Jonah, TJ, Amber, Marty and...Walker.”

“Oh. Okay sure!”

“Really?” Cyrus blurted, shooting Buffy an amazed look.

“Yeah, why not? I don’t hate Walker.”

Buffy smiled slightly. “Yeah, I know...we just thought it might be awkward for you.”

Andi’s gaze flickered to Amber again, who gave her a cute little wave. She smiled and waved back.

“Yeah...that’s not a problem anymore.” she said absentmindedly.

Cyrus and Buffy exchanged a confused look.

 

~

 

“Okay. Spill.” 

“Spill what?” 

Cyrus was positively grinning. “Andi, do you take me for a fool? You have a new crush!”

She gulped and quickly shook her head. She wasn’t ready by any means to acknowledge her newfound feelings.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

It was Tuesday afternoon and the pair were at Cyrus’ house. Buffy was on an ‘outing’ with Marty, and it was far too cold outside for them to do anything besides hole up and drink hot chocolate.

“Oh come on, I’m your best friend!” Cyrus complained.

Andi just shrugged and returned to the paper they were doodling on.

“Like I said, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The boy pouted and picked up another marker. “Okay, you don’t have to tell me...but can I guess?” 

Andi thought about it for a few moments.  _There was no way that Cyrus would ever guess a girl - let alone Amber. Eventually, he would just get bored and assume that it was a boy from another school._

Andi gave him a bright smile. “Sure, Cyrus. You can guess.”

Cyrus squealed slightly. “I knew it - there  _is_  someone!” 

“Yeah, you got me!” 

He stood up with an excited smile and rushed up to his room. She watched him go in amusement. 

For a moment or two, Andi felt bad. She knew that if she ever _were_ to tell someone (although she’d much rather let it blow over and hopefully return to liking boys) Cyrus would arguably be the best person to tell. He was gay, he was the kindest person she knew, and he knew Amber well enough to know that she wasn’t necessarily the mean girl she tried to seem like.

“Okay, I have it! You’re in luck because I’m very well-versed in crush guessing...kind of.” 

Andi automatically looked up with a smile and watched as Cyrus sat down infront of her, their yearbook in his hands.

“Okay...let’s start with...Gus?”

“Absolutely not.”

“What about Justin Abbotts? From History?”

“Nope.”

“David Arkley?”

“Nope.”

“It’s not Jonah or Walker, right?”

“Nope.”

This continued for around 15 minutes, with Andi drawing absentmindedly and automatically replying “Nope.” to all of Cyrus’ guesses.

Eventually, he tossed the yearbook aside with a groan. “That’s every boy in our year! He’s not from another year, right?”

“Nope.”

“Dammit! Is he from a different school?”

Andi gave him a playful smile and shrugged. “I don’t know. Could be.”

Cyrus gaped at her. “I have to meet him! Ya know, to see if he deserves my best friend.” 

She gave him a half-hearted nod, but guilt was beginning to claw at her insides. Cyrus deserved to know the truth after all, and he wouldn’t judge her...would he?

_Just tell him. He’s right there - there’s no one else home. Just tell him you might like girls too. Tell him you might like Amber._

Andi could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest. She took a calming breath, but she still couldn’t get the words out.

Cyrus’ smile fell. “Andi...are you good?”

She took another deep breath.

He quickly moved forward and took her hand. “Is something wrong?”

She shook her head violently. “No, I’m fine! Sorry, I was just...thinking about something. But yeah - you should totally meet him sometime! He’s great.” 

Cyrus gave her a sceptical look, but some of the concern on his face melted away.

“Okay. You know you can tell me anything right?”

She gave him a tight-lipped smile. “I know.”

“Good. How about we go watch netflix and eat caramel popcorn?”

“That sounds great.”

As Cyrus stood up and left for the kitchen, Andi let out a relieved sigh.  _Maybe she could tell him another time. Or preferably - never. Surely this crush or...whatever it was...would disappear soon enough. Right?_

~

 

“Hey Andi!”  

The dark-haired girl whirled around to find Amber jogging up to her in her usual waitress get-up. Her traitorous heart skipped a beat.

“Hey! Are you working right now?”

The other girl caught up to her and flashed her a bright smile.

“Technically. But I was on my lunch break and I saw you walking past soo...”

Andi bit her lip to contain a grin.“Okay. Do you wanna sit down here then?” 

She gestured to a bench, and Amber quickly nodded.

 The space between them was non-existent when they sat down, and Andi could feel her heart racing.

 _All_ _friends_ _have_ _casual_ _contact_ _like_ _this_ , she reminded herself. 

“So! How’s my favourite Kippen sibling doing?”

That earnt her a laugh from the other girl.

“Don’t let TJ hear you say that. But I’m good! I actually have something for you...”

She reached into the bag she was carrying and rummaged around for a moment. “Ah - here it is!” 

Andi could feel her face burning as Amber pulled out a colourful bracelet made from pebbles of varying sizes.

“It’s rainbow! And after seeing your shack the other day I just associate colourful things with you now. The pebbles are all from New Zealand if what the storeowner said was right, but maybe she was just trying to hype it up-“ 

Andi cut her off by surging forward and wrapping her arms around her. Amber let out a surprised squeak, but immediately reciprocated with a laugh. 

Being this close to Amber - smelling her perfume, feeling her arms wrapped around her and the girl’s long hair tickling her arm - was dizzying in the best way possible, but the very idea that she could be so affected by another girl terrified her. 

“Thanks.” she said once they had pulled away.

Amber laughed again. “No problem! I have to go now, but I’ll message you later.”

As she stood up and headed towards the Spoon, Andi swore the other girl’s face was rosier than usual. She rolled her eyes at her own hopefulness and quickly rationalised that it was cold - everyone’s face was redder than normal. 

On that note, she stood up with a sad sigh and began walking home again.

Neither of them had noticed TJ watching them through the window of the Spoon with a thoughtful look on his face.

 

~

 

On Wednesday at lunch, Andi was sitting with their usual group. TJ had an arm wrapped around Cyrus as the boy spoke animatedly to Buffy and Jonah, with Marty throwing in the occasional comment.

She was trying hard to keep up with the conversation, but she could barely focus when Amber was sitting at a table near them by herself, tapping away at her phone. Even when the girl wasn’t trying to be, she was  _unfairly_  beautiful. 

She took in every detail of her face, from the red lipstick she was wearing to her long, soft-looking hair. Briefly, Andi found herself wondering what it would be like to run her hands through it. She tried not to think about it. 

“Hey, Andi?”

She shifted her gaze towards TJ, shocked to find that he was quirking an amused eyebrow at her. Ever since he had started dating Cyrus, they had been on fairly friendly terms but they didn’t necessarily talk a lot. 

_Was he trying to start a conversation with her?_

“Um. Yeah?”

“Are you okay? You keep zoning out and staring over my shoulder.”

She could feel herself blushing as she shook her head.

“Sorry! I’m good, just tired.”

TJ looked behind him at Amber, then turned back to Andi with a knowing smile.

“Okay then.”

Andi didn’t have time to panic about what TJ could’ve possibly meant by that smile because there was a boy approaching Amber’s table that she didn’t recognise. 

Her heart sank.

 _Of course Amber had a popular, good-looking boyfriend. She always did - but this time the things she felt watching him approach Amber were very different._ _How could she possibly feel jealous when she knew that there was no chance of the other girl ever liking her back?_

Her self-pity quickly morphed into confusion when she noticed the exasperated expression on Amber’s face as he sat down across from her. She wasn’t smiling at him - instead, she was frowning.  _Was he annoying her?_

Andi wasn’t usually an overly impulsive person, but Amber always seemed to make her throw common-sense out of the window.

Without a second thought she stood up, abandoning her sandwich and walking over to Amber’s table. She could feel the eyes of her friends on her as she walked, but she couldn’t find it within herself to care. The blonde-haired girl saw her approaching and a relieved grin appeared on her lips.

“Hey Amber! I hate to interrupt, but we should really finish the project that’s due this afternoon. Don’t you think?”

The brown-haired boy was glowering at her, but he didn’t argue when Amber immediately stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder.

“Yes! We really should. Bye Nick!”  

With that, Amber took her hand and guided her out of the cafeteria. Andi could feel herself blushing again, and she tried hard to contain a dopey grin when the blonde-haired girl gave her a bright smile.

“Sooo...who was that? He seemed annoying.”

Amber groaned. “Tell me about it. He’s been bugging me for my number all year and he can’t take ‘no.’ Boys are awful.”

“They are.” Andi agreed. “Is there anything you can do though? Have you tried telling TJ?”

Amber sighed. “If I told TJ, Nick would be dead. Literally.”

“Well, I’m sure if you told the principal he could do something.”

“He’s only flirting and asking for my number, so they probably can’t do a whole lot. And...I don’t want Nick to win, you know? He’ll find out that I told on him.” 

“Amber. Telling someone about a weird guy that won’t stop making moves on you won’t make him ‘win’ anything. You deserve to have an annoying-boy free existence.”

Amber stopped for a moment to look at her.

“Yeah...I guess so. And you’re right, I mean - you always are.”

Andi beamed at her, and tried desperately not to think about the fact that they were still holding hands.

“How about we go outside and hang out until the bell rings?”

“That sounds great.”

While everyone at the table had hesitantly returned to their prior conversations, TJ was once again watching the pair curiously as they exited the cafeteria. Cyrus raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Babe, is something wrong?” 

“No, nothing’s wrong.” he assured, giving the other boy a small squeeze.

 

~

 

That same day, Andi had been walking away from her locker after school when TJ pulled her aside.

“Can we talk?”

She looked around nervously, afraid to meet his eye. “Now’s not really a good time, I have to get to-“

“The Spoon? No problem, I asked Cyrus to wait up.”

She sighed heavily and nodded, reluctantly following him to a less-populated part of the hallway. They waited a couple of minutes until most of the people had cleared out.

Andi’s heart stopped when TJ suddenly turned to her.

“Okay...I’m going to be straightforward about this because I’m sure you don’t want to hear me rambling. Do you like my sister?”

Andi stepped back slightly, shock written all over her face.  _Sure, she had anticipated something along those lines but hearing the words out loud?_

She violently shook her head.

“A-as a friend? Yeah, of course! I don’t know why on earth you would possibly imply anything else-“

TJ’s face softened. “It’s okay, Andi.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she insisted, her voice wavering slightly.

He just sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Look, we don’t have to talk about it. I didn’t realise you weren’t comfortable with - um - how about we just head back to the others?” 

TJ began to turn away, but Andi stayed rooted to the spot. Her heart was racing, and everything inside her was screaming to just follow him and forget this had ever happened. There was also a small part of her that was begging her to just come clean.  _TJ was gay after all, he wouldn’t judge her. Amber_ was _his sister though..._

“Wait - I...do like her.” 

TJ immediately turned around. “Andi...if you’re not comfortable with-“

“No - it’s okay. I just... I think I might...might, um...”

He smiled encouragingly and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, frowning slightly when he noticed tears welling in her eyes.

“I think I might like girls too. And I think I might like Amber...as more than a friend. Actually, I don’t think...I know.”

TJ nodded and tried to give her the most reassuring smile he could. “That’s okay, Andi. You know that right? There’s absolutely nothing wrong with you.”

Andi looked down at the floor with a sad smile. “I think I know that...” she mumbled.

“You...think?” 

When she just shrugged, TJ took another hesitant step towards her. “Do you want a hug?” 

Andi looked up again and smiled, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him. TJ immediately pulled her in. 

The hug was short, but it somehow made her feel better. She grimaced slightly when she saw the tear stains on TJ’s jumper. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, it’s fine. Just a word of advice though - tell Cyrus if you think you’re ready. He spent the whole afternoon worrying to me about you over text yesterday.” 

“I will.” she promised. “He won’t react badly...will he?”

“Of course not. You don’t have to worry about that with him...or Buffy. I promise.”

“Okay.” she breathed.

There was a momentary pause before TJ spoke again.

“So...do you wanna stay here for a bit or catch up with Cyrus and Buffy?”

“Let’s catch up with them.”

He smiled and nodded. 

As they made their way to the front entrance, he gave her a playful nudge.

“Hey, but I think you’d be good for her. She’s happiest when she’s around you.”

Andi rolled her eyes and tried to will down a blush.

“I don’t even know if she’s...you know...”

TJ smirked. “Well why don’t you ask her?”

“That’d be weird!”

“Oh come on, it’s a normal question.”

“Can’t you just tell me?”

TJ shook his head. “Nope. You have to ask.”

Andi sighed, but she couldn’t help the smile that was spreading across her face.

“No way is that happening.”

“I guess you’ll never know then.”

She groaned at that, while TJ just laughed.

 

~

 

That afternoon, TJ had to leave The Spoon earlier than usual for work, which left Andi alone with Buffy and Cyrus. He pressed a quick kiss to Cyrus’ cheek and murmured a quiet goodbye to him before turning to Buffy.

“See ya slayer,”

Then, he turned to Andi with a soft smile. “Bye, Andi.”

“Bye, TJ.”

Once he had left, Buffy narrowed her eyes at Andi. “Why is he being so nice to you? What did you guys talk about?” 

_Oh god - opportunity alert. She had already done it today, how hard could it be to do a second time?_

Pretty hard, apparently, because Andi found herself shrugging.

“He was just asking me for help with homework.”

“ _That’s_  what he needed to talk to you in private about?” Buffy asked incredulously.

“...Yeah.”

Cyrus looked at her intently for a few moments, before sighing slightly and turning to Buffy.

“Let’s not push it.”

“But-“

“Buffy, I’m sure she’ll tell us when she’s-“ 

“Wait - um...actually. Cyrus, you know how you were guessing my crush?”

They both turned to her with matching shocked expressions.

“You have a  _crush_?” Buffy spluttered.

“Yeah...but I only realised it recently.”

“What! Who is he?” 

Andi’s stomach flipped at that. Immediately, she began to second-guess herself.  _Maybe she couldn’t do this. Would they be disappointed if it wasn’t a boy? They_ were _expecting one after all._  

Cyrus was grinning. “Wait - are you going to tell us now? Oh my gosh!” 

She took a calming breath. Then another one. Then another one after that.

“There’s...a reason you couldn’t figure out who it was from the yearbook.”

A confused expression replaced Cyrus’ excited one. “Yeah...because he goes to a different school, right?”

“No...”

Her heart was racing all over again. “They don’t go to different school. They go to our one.” 

Realisation swept over Cyrus’ face. His mouth fell open in shock. Buffy still looked confused, but after a few moments her expression was almost the exact same. 

“Andi...do you like a girl?” he asked slowly. 

When Andi nodded, he gasped and rushed over to her side of the booth, throwing his arms around her. Buffy climbed over the table so that she could hug her from the other side. For at least a minute they were all awkwardly pressed together on one side of the booth, which earnt them a few confused looks.  

Cyrus was beaming as he pulled away.

“Hey, that’s great! I’m glad at least one of us gets to date girls.”

“We love you no matter what, Andi.” Buffy added sincerely.

“Thanks guys. I love you too.” 

For a few moments there was a pause. Then, a sinister smile was forming on Cyrus’ lips.

“So. Which girl is it?” 

“Cyrus!” Andi groaned. “I’m not going to tell-“ 

“Hi guys!”  

Andi looked up in horror to find Amber standing there, a dazzling smile on her lips. Her brain briefly short-circuited.

“H-Hey Amber! How’s - um - waitressing going?”

Amber laughed lightly. “The way it usually does, but I don’t have too long until my shift ends. Oh hey - you’re wearing the bracelet! It looks cute on you.”

She could feel herself blushing madly as he looked down at her wrist.

“Yeah, it’s really nice! Thanks again.”

“No problem!” 

Amber paused to look back at the kitchen and grimaced slightly. 

“I should probably get back to it, but I’ll see you guys around? Andi, I’ll message you tonight.”

With another dazzling smile, she was heading back to the kitchen. Andi knew she was screwed when she caught sight of the smirk on Cyrus’ face. 

“It’s Amber!” he said excitedly.

Andi shot him a glare. “Keep it _down_.” 

Buffy gaped at her. “So...it is? Whoa...” 

Andi nodded and bit her lip. “You’re not mad, are you?”

“Of course not - I mean, I’m not entirely sure why _her_ of all people-“

“ _Buffy_ ,” Cyrus warned.

“Okay, okay. She’s nice to you now and I guess that’s what matters? But if she hurts you, I’ll-“

“You don’t need to worry about that.” Andi scoffed. “I’m never telling her.” 

Cyrus’ eyes widened. “Wait -  _what_?!”

“Cyrus, I don’t know if she’s...you know.”

“Gay? Bi?”

“Yeah...”

“Well have you tried asking her?”

“No, I haven’t! God, you sound like TJ.” 

Buffy raised an eyebrow.

“ _That’s_ what you guys were talking about?  _He_  knew before we did?”

“I would’ve told you two first,” Andi insisted. “It’s just that...he asked about it. I think he could see it.”

Cyrus nodded slowly, seeming impressed.

“Wow. TJ noticed before I did. And you guys say he’s unobservant!” 

Andi and Buffy both rolled their eyes.

“He still is.” Buffy deadpanned.

Andi nodded. “Yeah. Agreed.”

“Hey!” Cyrus spluttered. “I’m legally obligated to be offended on his behalf whenever you guys say that, you know!”

Soon, they were all laughing and Andi found herself feeling content for the first time since she had noticed her strange feelings towards Amber. 

For some wild reason, she felt hopeful too.

 

~

 

Andi knew that there was scheming going on when she caught up to TJ, Cyrus and Buffy after school. Cyrus was whispering to his boyfriend, while Buffy just stood next to them, nodding occasionally. 

It was Thursday afternoon and the temperature was rapidly dropping as the days passed. The frost on the grass had melted slightly at that point, but you still see people’s breath in the air as they spoke. The sky was almost completely white, and everyone was rugged up in thick coats and scarves. 

They all smiled when Andi approached.

“What are you guys up to?”

Cyrus grinned mischievously and wrapped an arm around her. “Us? Up to something? You wound me, Andi Mack."

She rolled her eyes. “If this has anything to do with what I think it does, I will murder you all and make it look like a accident.” 

“Who are we murdering?”

_Yup. Andi was unfortunately going to have to murder her friends and make it look like an accident._

She playfully pushed Cyrus away from her and turned around, smiling brightly.

“No one. Hi Amber.”

“Hey there. Are we good to go?”

“...Good to go?"

“Amber’s coming with us to The Spoon.” TJ explained.

“You invited your sister to The Spoon with us?” she demanded, softening immediately when Amber’s face fell.

“Not that I don’t want you to come! You’re amazing! I mean - uh. Yeah, let’s just go.”

She turned on her heel and began marching away, feeling slightly mortified. Soon enough, a giggling Amber caught up to her and linked their arms. 

_Dammit - if that giggle wasn’t the cutest thing in the world._

“You look like a marching soldier.”

“Well...what if I told you I  _was_ a soldier?”

The other girl faked a gasp. “You’re a solider? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Oh, it’s only casual. Part-time, ya know? I do craft on the side as well.”

“Wow. What do you make?”

“Umm...bracelets."

“That’s great. Say, could you make me one?”

Andi faltered for a moment. She knew the cold wasn’t responsible for the way her cheeks were flushing at that moment.

“Do you actually want one? Because I can make one.”

“Really? Um - that’d be nice!”

On the outside, Andi was smiling and nodding, but on the inside she was losing it. She usually only made bracelets for family or crushes...or boyfriends. Would even suggesting that make it obvious? Was there a chance that Amber knew now? Surely not.They still had their arms linked. If she knew, she would’ve walked away in disgust. Right?

“Earth to Andi?” 

Andi immediately snapped out of it and tried to shut off her brain for the time being.

“Sorry! Just daydreaming.” 

Amber laughed. “You’re cute.”

  _That was just normal girl-talk. Right? Oh man, she needed to get a grip._

“Thank you. You’re...also pretty cute.”

They looked at each other for a moments, and Andi could feel her heart racing. Amber’s cheeks were rosy, her pink lip-gloss was smudged, her hair was wind-swept and her purple beanie kept falling over her eyes - Andi hadn’t seen anything more beautiful in her life.  

Amber stepped closer and raised a hand, hesitantly brushed a few stray strands of hair away from Andi’s eyes.

“Are you cold?” she murmured.

Andi hadn’t even realised that she was shivering until that point. 

“Yeah, kind of.” she admitted quietly.

Amber didn’t respond - instead, she unwrapped the scarf from around her neck and took off her beanie.

“What! But then  _you’ll_  be cold-“ Andi spluttered.

“It’s fine,” Amber insisted. “I always run hot anyway.”

“...Are you sure?” 

“Positive.”

With that, she stopped walking and carefully pulled the beanie over Andi’s head. Then, she wrapped the scarf around her neck with a small smile. She felt tingly wherever Amber’s fingertips brushed, and she remembered with a pang how completely and utterly  _gone_ she was for this girl.

Amber took a few moments to look at Andi, who was pretty sure she could feel her entire face burning.

“Wow. You look even cuter - how is that possible?”

Andi smiled and ducked her head.

“Okay, come on lovebirds!” TJ called.

“Shut up, TJ!” Amber yelled back, rolling her eyes. She turned back to Andi with a grin.

“I didn’t even realise they overtook us. I guess we should catch up, huh?”

“Yeah...”

Amber held out her arm, and Andi gladly linked them again. She knew deep down that they could never become anything more than friends, but there was nothing wrong with enjoying the contact while it lasted, right? 

They all arrived at The Spoon some time later, and the suspiciously devious smile had returned to Cyrus’ face. Andi narrowed her eyes, but slid into the booth they were standing at anyway. Amber slid in next to her and they looked to the others expectantly.

“Actually - there’s something TJ and I wanna talk to you about, Buffy.” 

Buffy feigned confusion for a few moments. “Okay...how about that booth over there?”

She pointed to a booth on the opposite side of the diner. Andi couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

Amber was frowning. “That’s weird...do they not like me?”

“No - they do, I promise. I think they’re just talking about Buffy’s...basketball team.”

“Oh...right.”

Soon enough, they were absorbed in conversation and eating their way through a small basket of baby taters. Andi tried not to think about how close they were.

She didn’t realise until her and Amber decided to call it a night that Buffy, Cyrus and TJ were gone - long gone in fact. Andi also realised with a small smile that they had successfully played her - and she wasn’t even that mad about it.

 

~

 

“Well - did you ask her?” Cyrus whispered.

Andi fought back a smile and rolled her eyes, keeping them trained on the powerpoint that the teacher was showing them. 

“Oh come on! You can’t ignore me forever.” 

She pointedly picked up her pen and began jotting down a few things.

“Okay, maybe you can in this lesson. But afterwards, we’re talking!” 

Andi just snorted slightly and continued writing.

As soon as they had stepped foot outside the door, Cyrus started up his questioning again.

“Did she admit to liking you? Because I was getting very strong vibes from her with that scarf sharing thing - and that calling you cute thing.”

“No, she didn’t. Because she doesn’t like me!”

“Dammit! My genius plan...”

“You thought she would admit to liking me? Oh man, that was hopeful of you. You don’t even know if she’s...”

Cyrus softened slightly as they stopped at Andi’s locker. “You can say ‘gay’, Andi. I promise it’s not a bad word.”

“I know.” she sighed. “I don’t know why I -well, anyway. You don’t know if she’s...gay.”

Cyrus smirked at that and turned to walk away.

“Wait - do you?”

“Ask her, Mack!” he sang.

She watched him leave with a small smile and tried not to get her hopes up.

 

~

 

Andi was the first one to their table at lunch. She would’ve usually gone on her phone to pass time, but today, Nick was sitting at Amber’s usual table and it seemed much more productive to just glare at him. She hadn’t seen him waiting there before, and she couldn’t help but suspect that he was becoming more persistent in his advances.

Between glaring at Nick and taking nibbles of her sandwich, she was glancing at the doorway in hopes that when Amber walked in, she could wave her over.

Not even a minute or so later, she  _did_ walk in and notice Nick in her spot. Andi quickly stood up and waved at her. Amber’s frown melted into a grin and she made a beeline towards Andi’s table.

“Hey!” Andi said. “You can sit with us today, or whenever you want to really.”

“Thanks. I’m not sure what’s up with him - he’s getting way more public about it.”

Amber sat down next to her and wrapped a casual arm over her shoulders. Andi took a deep breath and tried to focus.

“Have you told the principal?”

She sighed. “I’ve tried to, but I keep chickening out.” 

“Would you feel more comfortable telling TJ?”

Amber hesitated for a few moments, before nodding slowly. 

“Well, he’s kind of heading towards us right now.”

The blonde-haired girl jumped and looked up. Her arm around Andi tightened slightly as he approached, a smirk on his lips.

“Hey guys. What’s up?”

Andi looked over at the other girl with the most reassuring smile she could manage. Amber took a deep breath and nodded.

“Is something wrong Amber?” he asked carefully, sitting down across from them.

“It’s nothing really, there’s just this-“

“It’s not nothing,” Andi interjected.

Amber sighed again. “She’s right. There’s this boy that’s been flirting with me and bugging me nonstop this year for my number. He’s started talking to me at the cafeteria and outside class. It’s getting kind of annoying.”

“And creepy.” Andi added.

With one look at TJ’s face alone, Andi suddenly understood what people meant about seeing fire in someone’s eyes when they were outraged.

Amber seemed to see it too, because she quickly added “Don’t overreact TJ, it’s fine-“

“Hey guys!” 

Andi watched as Cyrus sat down next to TJ with a cluelessly bright smile. It only took a few moments of taking in everyone’s expressions for it to fade.

He placed a hesitant hand on TJ’s arm. “Babe...what’s wrong?”

TJ’s face immediately softened upon seeing his boyfriend’s concern.

“Nothing, it’s okay.” he assured, pressing a quick kiss to the boy’s forehead.

Cyrus folded his arms stubbornly. “I won’t pressure you, but there  _is_  something wrong.”

“It’s not my thing to tell, muffin. I’m sorry.”

Amber shot her brother a small, grateful smile.

Soon enough, the whole group had joined them at their table and Andi became convinced that TJ might handle the information maturely, rather than handling it in a way that would earn him a suspension.

She immediately dropped that idea when Nick approached their table. Of course - TJ didn’t know who exactly Amber had been talking about, but he quickly picked up on the obvious way that Andi was cringing.

_Why would Nick try now of all times?_

“I understand why you won’t go out with me now.” 

Everyone at the table fell silent. TJ looked downright furious again.

“You’re a fucking dyke, and she turned you.” he spat, nodding at Andi.

TJ stood up so quickly that he almost knocked over the whole table. Buffy, who also looked furious now, stood up too.

“You wanna call my sister that again, buddy?” he snarled, shoving his sleeves up. 

Cyrus, who generally tried to stop his boyfriend from using violence, was just watching Nick in horror. Jonah and Marty seemed to have very similar expressions.

The bastard looked  _smug._

“No, I think I’m good. At least I know now that it wasn’t me.” 

“It  _was_  you, you weird idiot.” Andi snapped. 

Before she could even think about what she was doing, she out of her seat and slapping him across the face as hard as she could.

He stumbled back in shock, before regaining his composure with a slight wince and snarling at Andi. 

“Lay a finger on her and you’ll regret it.” TJ warned.

At that, he rolled his eyes and stalked away, mumbling about how he would tell the principal.

When Andi sat back down, Amber wrapped an arm around her and rested her head on her shoulder.

“Thanks. I’m sorry.” she whispered.

“It was nothing, I promise.”

TJ let out a low whistle. “Nothing? I don’t think so. You got moves, Mack.” 

“Yeah, dude. I think he’s gonna have a pretty impressive handprint-shaped bruise on the side of his face now.” Marty added.

Andi just smiled. “I’m going to get hell from Metcalf for that.”

“I’ll tell him everything. Including what he said beforehand.” Amber assured.

She raised her head for a few moments and looked at Andi, before smiling and lowering it again.

“You’re the best friend ever.” 

Andi tried to ignore the pang of guilt she felt at that. 

 

~

 

Saturday was even colder than the previous days. The sky was still almost fully white, and the ground was covered in a thin layer of frost. 

For some wild reason, Andi was sitting outside and braving the cold. For some other wild reason, her legs had also subconsciously taken her to that bench near The Spoon from the other day.

She had Amber’s purple beanie on her head, which the other girl had insisted she keep because ‘I already have a million and it looks adorable on you!’

She felt stuck - and confused.  _She didn’t have any experience with dating girls, or asking girls if they were gay, or even having feelings for girls. Although TJ and Cyrus had certainly hinted at Amber not being straight, how could she know for sure? And why would she possibly be crushing on someone like Andi?_

“Nice hat.” 

She immediately recognised the line - and the voice. 

“It’s a beanie.” she responded, watching with a smile as Amber sat down next to her.

“Nice  _beanie_  then.” 

“Why thank you. A friend gave it to me, actually.” 

Amber gave her a teasing smile. “A cute friend?”

“Very cute. I should introduce you two sometime.”

“I’d like that.” 

For a moment, there was comfortable silence.

“He was right, you know.” Amber said suddenly.

Andi looked at her in confusion. “He?”

“Nick.”

“Oh.  _Oh_. Wait - you mean you’re...”

“Gay.”

“Oh!” 

“Everything else he said was completely wrong...but he was right about that.”

“Well, that’s totally fine. I’m here for you no matter what.”

Amber gave her a hesitant smile. “Thanks, Andi.”

Another silence fell. 

_Amber liked girls. Did that mean she had a chance? Surely not. Do friends give each other beanies? Probably._

Andi cleared her throat. “I think I’m bi.”

She surprised even herself with how confidently she said it. Amber looked over at her with a bright smile.

“Cool! The same thing goes for you, I’m here no matter what.”

“Thanks.” Andi breathed.

They looked at each other for a moment.

“Wanna get some baby taters?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”  

Soon enough, they were getting through another small basket of baby taters and falling back into comfortable conversation.

 

~

 

On Saturday afternoon, Andi, Cyrus and Buffy were holed up in Andi Shack with thick blankets and several portable heaters running. The walls weren’t exactly insulated, but that was a relatively small price to pay for such a cosy place to hang out. Buffy was sitting next to Andi on the couch, while Cyrus was laying down with his head on Andi’s lap.

“Guys, I think I wanna tell TJ that I love him.” 

Andi and Buffy both gasped.

“ _You love him?!_ ” Andi demanded.

“Yeah. But I don’t know if he loves me.”

Buffy couldn’t help but scoff. “I’m pretty sure he’s been madly in love with you since you two became friends.”

“You don’t know that!” Cyrus insisted. “What if he realises that we’re in too deep and breaks up with me?” 

“Cyrus,” Andi said, her voice soft. “TJ wouldn’t break up with you because of something like that. He cares too much about you.”

Cyrus sighed heavily. “I know. Do you guys honestly think he loves me though?”

“Positive. He’s completely smitten, don’t worry about it.” Buffy assured.

“Yeah, he’s so smitten that he pretended your blueberry macadamia muffins were good.” Andi added.

“Hey - we don’t talk about that!” 

While Andi and Buffy laughed, Cyrus just rolled his eyes. Soon though, a smirk was settling on his lips.

“So Andi,” he began, peering up at her.

“Oh god. Let’s keep talking about TJ.” she begged.

Buffy laughed at that. “No, that’s old news. Let’s talk about Amber.”

“Old news?!” Cyrus said incredulously.

Buffy just rolled her eyes. 

“As I was saying before  _someone_ made a very unwarranted comment,” he continued. “How’s Amber?”

“I’m sure she’s doing fine. Why don’t you ask her?” 

Cyrus rolled his eyes again, but he was smiling knowingly. “Have you asked her?” 

Andi tried hard to will down a blush. “No.”

Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but Andi quickly continued. “She  _did_  tell me though. And I told her that I’m...you know,”

Cyrus raised an eyebrow at her.

“Bi.” she finished lamely.

Buffy frowned slightly. “So let me get this straight-“ Cyrus snorted, which earnt him a glare. “You told Amber that you’re bi. And she told you that she’s...not straight I’m guessing?”

Andi nodded. 

“And she gave you her beanie - which you’re wearing right now by the way - and she called you cute multiple times and she talks to TJ about you non-stop?” 

“Wait - she talks to TJ about me nonstop? When did he tell you that?”

“At practise.” she said simply. “He was complaining about it.” 

“Whoa...do you guys think she might-“

“Yes! Yes we do.” Buffy interrupted.

_Surely not._

“Why would she ever like me though?”

Cyrus lifted his head and sat up, taking Andi’s hands in his.

“I don’t know - maybe because you’re funny and creative and cute and you’ve been nothing but nice and supportive towards her?” 

Buffy nodded. “I second all of that.” 

Andi looked down at her lap, a small smile on her lips. “I love you guys, you know that right?”

“We love you too.” Cyrus assured. 

Buffy paused for a moment before standing up. “Now - who wants to brave the harsh wilderness and help me on my mission to steal hot chocolate from Cece’s house?”  

Giggling, Andi stood up. “Sure. I’ll help you steal hot chocolate from Cece’s house.”

Cyrus looked between them for a few moments before sighing.

“Fine, I’ll help too.” he conceded, begrudgingly standing up.

“Great! Let’s go!” 

As they laughingly ran across the garden and through the front door, Andi was reminded of why she loved her friends so much.

 

~

 

The good hair crew were all wearing onesies when people began to arrive at Cyrus’ house on Sunday night. Andi had been mortified by the idea of wearing a cat onesie in front of Amber at first, but the other two eventually managed to convince her that the blonde-haired girl would find her ‘ _absolutely adorable_ ’ so she conceded.

Marty arrived first, and he sat down on the couch next to Andi while Buffy and Cyrus raided the kitchen for snacks. 

“Sooo...Amber huh?”

Andi groaned. “Great.  _You_ know now?”

“Buffy told me after the cafeteria incident.” he explained apologetically.

“That’s actually a good name for it. ‘The cafeteria incident’ - where I slapped an annoying creep I barely knew and got detention for it.” 

Marty snorted. “Like a total badass, might I add.  _And_ he got a suspension.”

Andi smiled at that, before looking down at her lap. “But...you don’t have a problem with it, do you?”

“If I did have a problem with it, I think my moms would be pretty angry at me.”

Andi gasped. “Oh - you have - I didn’t know-“

“I don’t make a big deal out of it - because it’s not.” 

“Right. Gotcha.”

Marty paused for a moment, before smiling and raising an eyebrow.

“So, are you gonna ask her out-“

“Nope, that’s the end of this conversation!” 

Marty just laughed and raised his arms in surrender, watching as Buffy and Cyrus walked in with armfuls of snacks.

“Okay. After a very successful raid, we have 3 bags of M&M’s, a box of favourites and 4 bags of popcorn.” Cyrus announced, flopping down onto the couch next to Andi. Buffy settled down next to Marty and offered him an M&M, which he took with a soft smile. 

Walker arrived next, who was soon followed by Jonah. 

After greeting everyone, Walker settled down on a beanbag next to the couch. Jonah, after much deliberation, decided to sit on the beanbag next to him. 

TJ and Amber arrived together after that.

Cyrus immediately stood up and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, squeaking when TJ lifted him up and carefully placed him on the large recliner. The younger boy laughed and pulled him down, resulting in them being tangled together on the recliner. 

Amber looked around the room at everyone before shrugging and sitting on the vacant side of the couch. She gestured for Andi to join her, who quickly shuffled away from Marty towards the blonde-haired girl. 

They were close, but there was still a sensible (friendly) distance between them. 

Next to them on the recliner, TJ had begun pressing kisses all over Cyrus’ face and watching with loving eyes as his boyfriend laughed. Amber let out an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes.

“They’re being even more sappy than usual.” she remarked lowly.

Andi laughed. “Yeah. The sweetness is kind of nauseating.” 

As she looked over at the pair, she couldn’t help but wonder if Cyrus had ended up telling TJ that he loved him - that would certainly explain the strange spike in PDA between them.

Through giggles and quiet ‘TJ!’s, Cyrus announced that they would be watching Love, Simon first because Marty, Jonah and Amber had all confessed to never seeing it. (Cyrus had deemed this ‘a crime against humanity.’) 

Buffy leaned over and tossed some of the bags around the room, sternly telling everyone that they had to share. 

Andi turned to Amber, only to realise that the other girl had already been looking at her.

“Your onesie is so adorable.” she whispered. 

Andi swallowed. “Just my onesie?” she whispered back.

Amber smiled teasingly. “No, not really.”

_Why were Cyrus and Buffy always right?_

“It’s really soft as well,” Andi offered, trying to calm her racing heart down.

Amber placed a hand on her arm and nodded. “Whoa, you’re right.”

Her hand lingered for a few moments, before she pulled it away with an embarrassed smile and turned to Cyrus.

“Are we starting?” she asked.

“Yup!” 

Cyrus reluctantly leaned away from TJ and grabbed the remote, pointing it at the TV and pressing play. The other boy immediately pulled him back and wrapped his arms around him, placing another kiss on his cheek.

 _Well - at least she could be sure that TJ definitely told Cyrus he loved him back._  

During the scene where Simon was coming out to his family, Andi could feel Amber moving closer to her.

As she got closer, the smell of her perfume and the feeling of her arm against Andi’s became more and more dizzying. She desperately wanted to wrap an arm around Amber, or pull her closer or - god forbid - just kiss her. 

All she could think about was how soft her lips would be, what it would feel like to run her hands through the other girl’s hair, how nice it would be to casually kiss her cheek or her forehead or just be close to her. 

Andi took a deep breath and leant back against the couch, shifting slightly closer to the other girl. She tried to make the movement subtle, but Amber seemed to pick up on it if the smirk on her lips was anything to go by.

She looked intently at the screen, not entirely processing what was going on as Amber slowly reached for her hand. The first brush of contact made Andi jump slightly, but he took another deep breath and nudged Amber’s hand with her own.

The other girl flashed her a soft smile as she linked their pinkies and rested her head on Andi’s shoulder. Andi was almost certain she was going to lose her mind, but she forced herself to relax and lean into Amber.

_This had to be a dream. This couldn’t be real._

After a few minutes, she was finally able to concentrate on the movie. Cuddling with Amber became a comfortable background noise rather than a loud chorus of ‘Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!’

She still felt slightly overwhelmed (in the best way possible) but the contact was soothing once it became more normal.

She tried to ignore the (very unsubtle) looks that Cyrus and TJ were throwing her.

 

~

 

After about 45 minutes, Andi began to feel like she needed some air - or at least, that’s what she told herself as she carefully untangled herself from Amber and stood up.

“I’ll be right back.” she whispered.

With that, she made her way towards the backdoor that connected to a small balcony. She grabbed her coat from Cyrus’ bedroom on the way and hastily tugged it on before stepping outside into the icy air. It felt nice against her skin after being snuggled under blankets (and against Amber, who indeed ran hot most of the time.) 

She heard the door opening behind her, and she knew who it was almost instantly. 

“Hey Amber.” 

The other girl gently shut the door behind her and stepped forward, a teasing smile on her lips.

“How did you know it was me?”

“I had a feeling.” she responded with a grin.

They both stared out at the night sky for a moment.

“Apparently it’s gonna snow tomorrow.” Amber commented.

“Finally,” Andi sighed. “I love snow.”

“Really? I’m not the biggest fan.” 

“ _What_?!” Andi asked incredulously, turning to the other girl. “How could you not like the snow? What about snowball fights and hot chocolate and fires-“

“Maybe you could convince me tomorrow then?” Amber suggested, a smirk tugging at her lips. Andi looked at her few moments before giggling.

“I guess I could. This isn’t an excuse to hang out with me though, is it? Because you really don’t need one.”

“An excuse to hang out with you? Pfft, of course not!" 

They looked at each other then, and Andi swore her heart was going to burst. 

“I uh...I made that bracelet for you.” she murmured nervously, reaching into her pocket.

She pulled it out and offered it to Amber, who took it with a soft smile.

“I made it a pride bracelet! After you told me yesterday that you were gay. The one you gave me was also pretty colourful, so I thought it was fitting but obviously if you don’t like it that’s okay-“

Amber cut her off by surging forward and pressing their lips together. 

Andi stilled in shock, before laughing slightly and wrapping her arms around the other girl, kissing her back with everything she had.

She heard a few muffled squeals from inside, and she suspected that the others had been watching through the blinds, but that didn’t deter her from tilting her head and continuing to kiss the girl she had been crushing on for months.

She hadn’t known what to expect from kissing a girl - Amber in particular - but she loved everything about it. She loved the gentle pressure of Amber’s lips against hers, she loved the taste of M&M’s that was still lingering on both of their lips, she loved the way that Amber had her arms wrapped loosely around her neck.

It was freezing, but the other girl’s lips were warm and comforting and it made everything worth it.

“It’s beautiful. I love it.” Amber breathed once she had pulled away. 

“I gathered.” Andi replied, too giddy to even shoo away the audience they currently had.

“And Andi...I know this is a bad time, but I’m honestly so sorry about leaving you on that Ferris wheel. It was an awful thing to do and I regretted it so badly because you’re such a nice person and-“

 This time, it was Andi who cut Amber off.

At first, their noses bumped and the angle was awkward, but Amber just giggled and tilted her head so that the alignment was better.

This kiss was shorter, but it still had Andi feeling dizzy as she pulled away.

“I’ve forgiven you for that.”

“I gathered.”

Andi laughed and turned to the window, where everyone - including Walker and Jonah surprisingly enough - weren’t even trying to hide the fact that they were spying on them through the blinds.

Cyrus squealed again (she recognised the muffled sound from earlier) and engulfed Andi in his arms as soon as she walked through the door.

“You did it!” 

“I’m pretty sure  _I’m_ the one that kissed her first.” Amber pointed out, stepping through the door behind her. Andi rolled her eyes, but she was smiling nonetheless. 

“She’s got a point.” 

Marty patted her on the back then, an amused smile on his lips. “Nice one.”  

TJ rolled his eyes, but there was a knowing smile on his face. “I covered my eyes as soon as you guys started kissing, but I’m glad I don’t have to listen to Amber pining after you anymore-“

“Hey!”

“Oh, you know it’s true. Anyway - I’m psyched for both of you. You two deserve to be happy.” 

“I’m going to have to reluctantly agree with TJ here.” Buffy added, smiling. “If Andi’s happy, then I’m happy.” 

“Thanks guys.” 

 Amber took her hand and intertwined their fingers, smiling brightly as Jonah and Walker approached them.

“Hey Andiman. I had no idea that you liked Amber - or girls in general - but that’s docious!” 

Walker smiled and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you two are cute.” 

Andi exchanged an amused glance with Amber before laughing and thanking them both. 

_Who knew that so much could change in a week?_

 

~

 

_Bonus:_

 

“Andi! Amber’s at the door!”

Andi groggily rolled over and rubbed at her eyes, vaguely reaching in the direction of her phone. 

_10:00am - did that mean it was snowing?_

With that thought, Andi sprung out of bed and rummaged through her drawers, pulling on mismatching layers of clothing and a pair of yellow boots. She rushed past a startled-looking Bowie and brushed her teeth in the bathroom before stumbling towards the front door, flattening her hair in the process. 

Bex watched in amusement as Andi grabbed Amber’s beanie and a pair of gloves before stepping out the door with a muffled “We’ll be outside!” 

To her delight, she found Amber standing there in freshly-fallen snow, a grin on her rosy face.

“Hey there!”

“Hey!” she laughed, taking a hesitant step forward. 

Andi realised too late that Amber had been holding her arms behind her back suspiciously, and soon enough a snowball was flying through the air and hitting her square on the shoulder.

She gasped in disbelief. “Oh, you are  _so_ going to pay for that.” 

Amber giggled and took off, leaving Andi to chase her. As they stumbled through the snow, Andi paused every few moments to pick up some snow, eventually forming a decently-sized snowball in her hands.

She aimed it at Amber’s back, being careful not to throw it with too much force.

Amber stopped in her tracks when it hit her and turned around, raising an eyebrow. “Now who’s gonna have to pay?”

“We’re even?” Andi tried, squealing when Amber began chasing after her. 

By the time the other girl caught up to her, Andi was so tired that she practically let herself be tackled to the ground, laughing breathlessly as she fell. Amber was hovering over her, her victorius grin soon melting into a soft smile. She dropped the snowball she was holding and took Andi’s gloved hands in her own. 

“I don’t think you understand how much I love your laugh.”

If it weren’t so cold, Andi’s face would’ve been burning. She beamed up at Amber and tried to ignore the way her stomach was flipping.

“Hmm...It’s probably how much I love your laugh - even more actually.”

“That’s impossible.” Amber insisted, leaning down with a smile.

They stayed like that for a moment or two - lying in the snow with their hands intertwined and their faces only inches apart.  

“I think we should go inside.” Amber said eventually.

“Yeah, you’re right. My back is kind of frozen and I could really do with some hot chocolate.”

The blonde-haired girl laughed and stood up, holding out a hand for Andi. She happily took it, and didn’t let go of it as they began to walk towards the house.

Inside, Bex and Bowie were watching them curiously through the window.

“Are you getting a little bit of a...vibe?” Bex asked him.

“What kind of vibe?” 

She paused for a moment, before smiling slightly. “Never mind. Andi will tell us when she’s ready.” 


End file.
